ride a vintage scooter through the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, Austria's most beautiful panoramic road

riding a lambretta through the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse

since I had found out about Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, a panoramic road in Austria which, on paper, seemed a wonderful way to spend one of our lambretta weekends away, I've been hoping to find a lovely autumn day to enjoy it to the fullest.

good weather was an indispensable requirement to confront the long road and the highest mountain of Austria. since we were planning our little trip for mid-October, of course we weren't completely sure we were actually going to leave until the day before: we checked the weather forecast everyday that week, but even when the nice symbol of the sun steady showed up on our screens, we've never dreamt we'd be so lucky! we have ridden through Austria's highest scenic road on the best autumn day you could imagine, with blue cloudless sky and a view made of stunning mountain peaks, snow and those amazing warm tones that you can find during October in the Alps.

I will never forget it, it has been one of the most beautiful ride of my life, so I've prepared this detailed post to share all the informations with you ♥

Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, watercolour illustrated map

the Grossglockner High Alpine Road

first things first: location. the Grossglockner hochalpenstrasse, which can be translated to english as high alpine road, is a 48 km long private road between Cartinthia and Salzburg regions in Austria. 

it has a north entrance in Fusch an der Großglocknerstraße and a south entrance in Heiligenblut am Großglockner. it is located in the Home Tauern National Park and rewards its visitors with a stunning view of several peaks over 3,000 meters, including Austria's highest mountain, the Grossglockner, and Austria's most extended glacier, the Pasterze, that lies on the Grossglockner's slope.

the Grossglockner high alpine road is famous for the stunning view and breathtaking hairpin turns (can you spot the lambretta in this one?)

the Grossglockner high alpine road is open from may to november and only under good weather conditions

the road goes up to an altitude of over 2,570 meters, through sharp bends, hairpin turns and panoramic points: an alpine wonderland for all those who love to drive, but especially for riders and cyclist, along with outdoors enthusiasts.

it's open from may to november, and only with good weather. their (great) website is constantly updated with info about the road condition (that I checked before leaving home) but they're also very quick to answer emails (yes, I double checked and write them at info@grossglockner.at), so I suggest you clear any doubts with them before buying the ticket, especially if you have a long journey ahead. 

oh yes, it is a tourist road, so you need a ticket to go inside. price for one day ticket is 35,50 euro for a car and 25,50 euro for a motorcycle. 

{all the prices are listed here with the opening hours, and I saw in their facebook page that sometimes there are discounts}

alpine landscape and breathtaking turns on the Grossglockner hochalpenstrasse

the lambretta, me and a charming alpine cabin

our ride

Marco and I live relatively not far from Austria, but not close enough to be able to take this field trip in one day. we left home on the early afternoon of a friday, just after work. we packed our backpacks, sleeping bags and tent on the lambretta, and headed up the mountains. 

our plan was to arrive to Alto Adige / South Tyrol before darkness, sleep there and, on saturday morning, cross the border and ride for about 90 kilometers to reach the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse. 

boy, was it cold. don't be fooled by the blue skies and warm tones of the pictures, there was frost covering both the lambretta and the tent, when we woke up. but I cannot say it wasn't worth it.

wearing our warmest ride gears, we arrived to the little town of Heiligenblut am Großglockner, where the south gate is located, around noon. we had bought the ticket online, and at the entrance they gave us a brochure with a detailed map, the ticket and a sticker {which we proudly stick to the lambretta}. 

Heligenblut am Grossglockner, a carinthian town

the south gate of the Grossglockner hochalpenstrasse

maps, sticker and tickets of the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse

once you enter, there are some activities you can choose from. there are plenty of bars and restaurants, a couple of exhibition centers, souvenir shops, panoramic points and trails. 

due to the few hours of daylight available {considering the season and the altitude, riding in the dark is not a smart choice}, we wanted to spend most of the time riding around and taking pictures, and we were able to go forth and back, have lunch, coffee break and all the stops to take photos and videos we needed in about four hours. 

in my opinion, the do-not-miss stops are: 

• the lookout point with a view of the Grossglockner and the glacier {Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe, number 11 of this map, top right in my illustrated map}
• the Fuscher Törl observation platform {number 5 of this map, marked as "panoramic point" in my illustrated map}
• the paved road for Edelweiß-Spitze {number 4 of this map, marked as "amazing paved road" in my illustrated map}

amazing paved road with a view

alpine adventure on the road

at the Edelweiss Spitze point 

before the Fuscher Törl observation platform

info

• website: www.grossglockner.at 
• facebook page: www.facebook.com/grossglocknerstrasse/
• instagram account: @grossglocknerhochalpenstrasse
• online tickets: https://www.grossglockner.at/gg/en/online-voucher/voucher 
• prices & opening hours: from may to november, 35,50 for car and 25,50 for motorcycle. more here
• map: download from here, it's the first one

autumn colors in the Grossglockner high alpine road

48 kilometers of nature landscape, 36 hairpin bends and the view on Austria's highest mountains make the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse the most beautiful scenic road in Europe